Hand-truck



(No Model.) WI Hl BERGER.

HAND TRUCK.

No. 394,443. Patented Deo. 11, 1888.

l mph", wamiugmmnc UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM H. BERGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

H A N D T R U C K SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.394,443, dated December 11, 1888. Application filed August 22, 1888.Serial No.283,399. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BERGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvement-s inHand- Trucks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has relation to hand-trucks of that class used in stores,warehouses, and factories for the handling and conveyance of barrels,boxes, and other packages, and has for its object the provision ofcertain improvements in the construction and arrangement of thetruck-platform, whereby the truck is rendered more serviceable,convenient, and useful than the trucks heretofore constructed.

My invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, andcombination of parts, as hereinafter described and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a truckembodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectionalview of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the platform, and Fig. 4 avertical transverse section through the same on line y y.

In an application for patent filed by me on the 21st day of December,1887, Serial No. 258,589, I have shown and described a novelconstruction of hand-trucks, wherein the platform consisting of a [iatcast plate having sockets at the sides to receive the lower or forwardends of the side bars or handle is arranged so as to extend back overthe axle, in order to distribute the weight and allow casks, barrels,and the like to be moved with great ease while in an upright position,instead of, as previously provided, while lying down upon the body ofthe truck.

My present invention embodies a similar arrangement of the platform andcertain modifications of a nature intended to increase the efficiency ofthe truck and render it more compact, convenient, and serviceable.

In the drawings, A A designate the side bars or handles of truck; B, theplatform; C C, the wheels, and D the axle.

The platform, like that shown in my previous application above referredto, consists of' a casting of large area having sockets to receive theside bars or handles. The sockets (indicated by the letters d d) are,however, in the present instance, located at the back or rear portion ofthe platform, instead of, as in the previous case, forward of orcoincident with the axial line of the wheels. The purpose of thisarrangement is to give the barrel-head or package ample standingspaceupon the platform without unduly increasing the width of the truck. Aswill be seen, the platform is approximately barrelshaped, while thehandle-sockets are located outside a circle described from a centerabove the axle, representing a head of a barrel; hence the width of theplatform is materially decreased.

The handle-sockets d CZ are slightly oblique or curved in the directionof the contour of a circle, and are also slightly pitched outward on theline of their inner walls, e e, the latter construction being inconformity with the swell of a cask and incidentally a feature which isnecessary in the opera-tion ot' casting, so that the pattern maybereadily drawn from the mold.

The handle-sockets are of box-like formation, and are open on theirouter sides to receive the handles, which are bolted to the inner walls,e e, and extend down and back of the axle, so as to give increasedpurchase in lifting' a load. 'lhe front, rear, and side walls of thehandle-sockets constitute, respectively, a holdback-brace, against whichthe strain is imposed in lifting a load, and a push-brace at the backand a connecting-flange. The handles are therefore incased at threesides. The push-brace formed by the back wall extends, as shown, abovethe level of the front wall or holdback-brace, so as to materiallystrengthen the handle at the point of greatest strain, where breaking orfracture would otherwise occur.

As before stated, the inner walls of the handle-sockets are oblique-thatis, they follow the circle of the barrel-head, The inner surfaces of thesockets are at such an angle to IOO the surface of the platform that thehandles converge toward .their upper ends to the proper and convenientposition for grasping and handling.

E -E represent the guard-walls, cast with and upon the platformimmediately forward of the handle-sockets and formed with the segmentaliianges ff on. their upper edges, which concentrically span the wheelson their inner and upper peripheries and prevent the contents of theplatform from comingin contact with or obstructing the wheels.Heretofore the wheel-guards on trucks have consisted of fiat plates oriingers extending over the wheels and projecting to such a distance asto constitute obstacles to the movement of the truck in cert-ainpositions, as in turning in narrow spaces or passing through narrowdoorways.

My improvements contemplate the use of larger wheels than those usuallyemployed on hand-trucks, as the larger the wheels the easier it is topropel the truck under a heavy load.. In order to accommodate theplatform to such large wheels, I drop or suspend it below the axial lineby supporting it upon a bent axle, the middle portion of which is belowthe spindle ends, as shown, and in order to avoid an increase in thewidth of the platform by reason of the dropping of the platform, Iproduce the shoulders and bends g g of the axle at points inside themarginal line of the platform, and pass the vertical and horizontalextension through slots' h h in the horizontal portion of the platformand inthe vertical guard-walls E E. Under this arrangement the Wheelsare brought as close together as possible.

It is obvious thatno other arrangement of the platform would be possiblewhere the intention is to use large wheels With alow platform andaccommodate the truck within the narrow limits to which they arefrequently coniined. y

The slotting of the platform and side walls and the extension of theaxle-bends through such slots has an additional advantage, inasmuch asit prevents the movement of the platform either laterally, vertically,or forwardly, and maintains it in a rigid position irrespective of thebolts which secure the platform and axle together.

The platform, as shown, is a solid plate, and is so constructed, insteadof being skeleton or open-work, to prevent nail-heads, hoops, o r otherobjects catching or lodging in the openings or interstices, andpreventing the barrel or packages from being easily slid on and off theplatform.

The frame of the truck is open at the back the admission of packages orbodieslengthwise.

As will be understood, the truck is intended to stand and be moved whilein an upright position. The normal position of the platform is thereforehorizontal, or practically so.

In loading the truck the handles are thrust forward sufficiently tobring' the front edge of the platform down to the floor-level, in whichposition it is worked under the barrel or package to be carried, and thelatter then shifted until it is disposed or balanced over the axle. Thehandles are then tilted back, bringing the platform to a horizontalposition. The manipulations are simple and easily accomplished.

In application No. 258,589, already referred to, I have shown,described, and claimed certain improvements in hand-trucks, and hence donot herein make any claim to said improvements, nor to any of thefeatures of construction speciiically embraced and claimed in saidapplication.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. Inahand-truck, a solidplatform located above the axle of the wh eels and between the latter,and extending both forwardly and rearwardly beyond the axial line, saidplatform consisting of a fiat plate or casting without openings orinterstices, substantially as shown and described. I

2. In a hand truck, substantially as described, the combination, withthe wheels and axle of a horizontally-arranged platform on either sidethereof, which rests upon said axle and extends forwardly and rearwardlybeyond the same, of handles secured to said platform behind the axialline of the wheels, as set forth.

3. In a hand-truck, a platform consisting of a flat plate having casttherewith and thereupon handle-sockets consisting of box-shapedrecesses, the inner walls of which converge rearwardly toward eachother, said sockets being located back of the axial line of thetruckwheels, substantially as described.

4. In av hand-truck,A the combination, with the wheels, of a bent axleupon which the same are mounted, and a horizontal platform mounted uponsaid axle and located below the axial line of said wheels, said platformconsisting of a plate of large area which extends forwardly as well asrearwardly beyond the axial line, substantially as described.

5. In a hand-truck, the combination, with the platform suspended belowthe axial line of the wheels and having vertical side walls, of the U-shaped or bent axle having its bends or shouldered extensions locatedoutside the marginal lines of the platform, substantially as described.

6. In a hand-truck, the combination, with the wheels and the bent orshouldered axle, of the platform suspended below the axial line, andhaving its horizontal portion and vertical Walls coincidentally slottedfor the acof the platform, affording a clear space for commodation ofthe axle bends or shoulders, substantially as described.

7. 'In a hand-truck in which the platform is located above the axle andextends rearwardly beyond the same, the combination, with said platform,of the handle-sockets located back of the axial line, and having theirinner walls IOO.

IIO

wardly beyond the axle, of handles secured to said platform andconverging toward their npper ends, substantially as described.

lO. In a hand-truck7 the combination, with the platform and wheels, ofthe wheel-guards secured to or cast integral with the platform andhaving laterally-extending flanges spanning the wheels concentrically,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix iny signature in presence of' twowitnesses.

WILLIAM H. BERGER. Vitn'esses:

THos. A. CoNNoLLY H. E. GARSED.

